Skewer-making machine.



R. A. GROVER. SKEWER MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO.12, i910.

Patented May 30, 1911.

2 BHEETB-SHEET 1.

R. A. GROVER.

SKEWER MAKING MACHINE. APPLIOATIONFILED DEO.12, 19104 Patented May 30, 1911.

2 SHEBT$SHEET 2.

INVENTUR Renaldo A. Grover WIT/V6885? ATTORNEYS ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RONELLO A. GROVER, OF ANDOVER, MAINE.

SKEWERFMAKING MACHINE.

Application filed December 12, 1910. Serial No. 596,997.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Ron ELLO A. Gnovnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Andover, in the county of Oxford and Stateof Maine, have invented a new and of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to skewer making machines--that is, to machines for making skewers used in connection with the bandling and sale of meats.

, More particularly stated, my invention comprehends a machine for the purpose of dressing the ends of skewerblanks, thereby furnlshm'g the skewers with sharp points.

Generally speaking, my invention. comprises a feedwheel provided with pockets. for picking up skewers one at a time from a hopper, and a dressing wheel parallel with the feed wheel but slightly eccentric in relation thereto, the purposeof the dressing wheel being to grind oil' the adjacent ends of the skewerblanks while the latter are carried partially around by the feed wheel.

- My invention further comprises mechanism controllable at will for pressing the skewer blanks into proper engagement with the dressing wheel, and also means for guiding skewer blanks relatively to the dressing wheel and to the feed wheel.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of referonce indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my machine complete; and Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction ,oi the arrow. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cen- -'tral vertical cross-section through the ma- .chine, looking toward the right according to Fig. 2.

The frame of the machine isshown at 3 and-supports a feed hopper 4 for holding the skewer blanks which are shown at 5. At 6 is askewer hopper for holding the skewers 7 as they are finished by the machine-or, in other words, as their ends are I pointed, as indicated at 8. At 9,10 are ped- 'collars 14:, 15 disposed in immediate'proximity to the adjacent ends 11, 12 and thereb prevent undesirable end play of the she t 13. A pulley 16 is fixed upon this shaft for the purpose of turning the same. At 17, 18 are two other pedestals and supported by the same are bearings 19, 20. A revoluble shaft 21 rests within these bearings and is provided with set collars 22, 23, these set collars being disposed close to the adjacent ends of the bearings 19, 20. A pulley 24 is' secured firmly upon the shaft 21 and is used for turning the same. Mounted upon the pedestals 9, 10 is a rail 25 secured thereto by aid of bolts 26. Aportion of this rail artially overhangs the skewer hopper 6. onnected with this overhanging portion of the rail 25 are two straps 27, 28, a brace rod 29 being connected with these two straps and extending across from one to the other. The straps 27, 28 also extend through slots 30 in a bar 31 and are secured firmly to another bar 32, The bar 31 is' stationa whereas the bar'BS. is adjustable slightly in relation to it for the purpose of tightening or loosening the straps.

Extending through threaded holes in the bar 32 are bolts 33 provided with angular heads. 34. These bolts are provided with smooth necks 35 which extend through holes in the bar 31. The bolts are further provided with collars 36 which revent them from moving endwise relative y to the bar Specification of Letters ratent. Patented May 30, 1911.

eled to the bar 31. and by turning the bolts in one direction the bar 32 is forced away from the bar 31, thus tightening the straps 27, 28, and by turning the bolts 33 in the op )OSlte direction the bar 32 is brought closer to the bar 31, thus relaxing the straps 27, 28. In this manner the operator may at will and just the tension of the straps.

The bar 31 is supported upon standards 37 which are rigid relatively to the framework. At 38' is a metallic strip having generally an arcuate iorm and being practically a continuation of a part of the hop r 4. The strip38 serves as a, guide for the s wer blanks, as her nafter described. At 39, 40 are two guide wheels which, by aid of keys 41, 42 are secured rigidly to the shaft 13. At 43 is a wheel which, because of its function, I designate as a feed wheel. It is 'provide'd'with a hub 435 and is mounted loosely upon the shaft 13 between the guide wheels 39, 40.' The feed wheel 43 1S pro vided with grooves .44 extending directly a the reason that they are used These grooves I designate as pockets, for or receiving the skewer blanks.

At 45 is a guide stri which extends from plane of the hopper 4 aralle with the the guide whee 39. A spring guide 46 is mounted upon the guide stri 45 and has an arcuate form. This strip be away from the guide strip 45, as will'be understood from Fig. 1. At 47 is a dressing wheel made of emery or other abrasive material and provided with a beveled face 48 for the purpose of dressin the. adjacent ends of skewer blanks. The ressing wheel 47 is keyed upon the shaft 21 and is concentric to the latter, but this shaft is placed a little out of alinement with the shaft 13, as will be understood from. Fig. 1.

- The dressing wheel 47 has about the same diameter as the guide wheels 39-, 40 and the diameter of these guide wheels is less than that of the feed wheel 43 by a distance suflicient to enable the skewer blanks 5, when carried by the pockets 44, to restupon the I guide wheels and to be pressed slightly thereagainst by aid of the straps 27 28.

My purpose in setting the shaft 21 out of 'alinement with the shaft 13 (see Fig.- 3) is to enable the skewer blanks 5 to.b e carried up some distance toward the-top of the feed wheel 43 before coming into engagement with the beveled edge 48 thereof, and also to force the'skewer blanks against the dressing wheel so as to enablethe latter to form points upon the skewer blanks, the dressing or cutting actionincidental to this purpose being gradual and progressive. In

doing this the skewer blanks-originally cylindrical are each rendered conical upon oneof its ends. At 49 is a bladeof thin ars slightly metal mounted within the skewer hopper 6 and -extending upward to a point adjacent to the ed e of the wheel 43. This blade'assists in islodging the skewers from the pockets should any assistance be necessary.

As a rule, however, the skewers will automatically leave the feed wheel as soon as released from engagement with the straps 28.

The operation of my device is as follows: The parts being made and assembled as stated, the tension of the straps 27,28 is adjusted as above described, which is done by turning the bolts 33. The skewer blanks 5 being now filled into the hopper 4, power is applied to the pulleys 16, 24 so as 'to -drive the same in opposite directions, the

speed of the pulley 24 being considerably greater than that of the pulley 16. The guidegvheels 39, 4.0 are turned in one di ection with the shaft 13, and the feed wheel 43, though loose upon the'shaft is also turned, although its rotation is idle. Each pocket 44 picks up a skewer blank 5 and carries it upward, and each skewer blank upon reaching its uppermost limit is brought into engagement with the two straps 27, 28

it. The rotation ofthe gui ewheels 39, 40 bein positive, each skewer blank 5 is rolled a ongby them on the under side of the straps 27, 28. That is to say, the straps 27, 28 tend slightly to retard the bodily movement of the skewer blank, and as the guide wheels 39, 40 propel the skewer blank the guide wheels 39, 40 and the feed wheel- 43. When, however, a skewer blank is at the top of the feed wheel'43 and is rotated within its pocket as just described, one end of the skewer blank is brought into engagement with. the adjacent beveled edge 48 of .the dressing wheel 'andas this wheel is also turning rapidly in a direction opposite to that of the guide wheels and feed wheel, the adjacent end of the skewer blank is provided with a point 8 as will be understood from Fig. 1. As the skewer blanks pass downwardly from their uppermost positions, they, are released one at a time from the pressure of the straps 27, 28 and drop as finished skewers 7 into the hopper 6. The

blade 49 .facilitates their dislodgment fromthe feed wheel if they do not otherwise drop out easily.

While at the beginning of the operation and before a skewer blank passes into any one of the pockets 44, the rotation of the feed wheel which press gently and yieldingly down upon.

43 is not positive, such rotation becomes positive as soon as a skewerblank lodges in one of the pockets 44 and is thereafter, by rotation of the feed wheel brought into en-' gagement with the straps 27, 28. That is to say, the pressure of these straps forces different portionsof the blank into engagement with the guide wheels 39, 40, and as these wheels are turned positively by rotation of 'the shaft 13, the bodily-movement of the skewer blank becomes positive, and, of course, this renders positive for the moment the rotation of the feed wheel 43. Since, during the action of the machine, there will practically always be at least one or two skewer blanks in engagement with the straps 27, 28, the action of the machine as a whole is rendered very nearly positive. As the skewer blanks pass upwardly under control of the ,feed. wheel 43, they are brought into engagement with the spring guide 46 which moves them slightly endwise until their ends opposite-the springguide 46. are broughtinto engagement with the guide strip 38. The blanks are thus guided each at both of its ends and kept true in relation to the ends of said blanks, a guiding strip for engaging one end of each blank, a spring guid ing member for engaging the opposite end of each blank in order to adjust said blank in the general direction of its length, and means for cutting one end of said blank when thus adjusted;

2./A device of the character described comprising a revoluble shaft, a plurality 0 guide Wheels mounted rigidly thereupon and revoluble therewith, one of said guide wheels being flush with one end of said shaft, in feed wheel mounted loosely upon said shaft and disposed between said guide wheels, means co-acting with said feed wheel for holding skewer blanks upon said guide wheels, a second shaft disposed end to end relatively to said first mentioned shaft, the

axis of said shafts being slightly out of alinement so as to render one of said shafts eccentric relatively tothe other, and a dressing wheel carried by said second-mentioned shaft and substantially flush with the end thereof adjacent to said first mentioned shaft.

3. A device of the character specified, comprising. a pair of guide wheels mounted rigidly upon a shaft, a single feed wheel mounted idly upon said shaft and disposed between said guide wheels, said feed wheel being provided with pockets extending entirely across it for receiving skewer blanks, a pair of straps disposed adjacent to the path of travel of said skewer blanks for the purpose of dragging upon said skewer blanks and causing them to rotate as they are carried in said pockets, and a dressing wheel disposed adjacent to one of said guide wheels and mounted slightly eccentric in relation to the latter for the purpose of dressing the ends of the skewer blanks.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a feed Wheel provided with pockets for carrying blanks, a pair of guiding strips disposed one on each side of said feed wheel and a guiding strip of spring metal mounted upon one of said guiding strips and inclined toward the adjacent edge of said feed wheel for the purpose of adjust-ing said skewer blanks carried thereby, and mechanism for dressing the ends of said skewer blanks while thus adjusted.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speci-ficat-ion'in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RONELLO A. GROVER. lVitnesses Ronnn'r I-IER EY,

' C. A. MERRILL. 

